Comcast Gigabit Internet Service Launches In Chicago

Congratulations people of Chicago, Comcast just expanded the availability of its 1-gigabit broadband Internet service to your area. That sounds like reason for celebration, right? It should be except that compared to same service in Atlanta and Nashville, it costs twice as much for the speedy Internet connection.

In Atlanta and Georgia, Comcast offered new customers willing to commit to three years of service a rate of $70 per month. Those who wanted no part of a long-term contract could pay $140 per month, which is what Comcast is charging for its 1Gbps service in Chicago. Unfortunately, Comcast isn't making the same discounted offer to Chicago residents, though they're effectively paying double. The same introductory pricing is being offered in Chicago, HotHardware confirmed with a Comcast spokesperson.

Comcast did mention that it will test "promotional pricing during the trial period," but initially didn't get into specifics. When asked by Consumerist why the service costs more in Chicago, Comcast explained that it's "testing different prices and promotions in different markets." That lead many to believe (us included) that Comcast wouldn't be offering the same discounted $70/month option in Chicago, but that isn't the case.

Pricing discrepancy aside, 1Gbps Internet service has arrived in Chicago. The service uses DOCSIS 3.1 technology over the company's existing infrastructure, so it didn't have to incur the cost of digging up roads and laying new pipelines.

"We’re delivering gigabit speeds over the network that already passes millions of homes in the Chicago area," said Comcast Greater Chicago Region senior vice president John Crowley. "Our commitment to providing customers with a great experience is front and center with this announcement, and we’re proud that Comcast’s Chicago area customers will be among the first in the world to have access to this new gigabit technology."

Running at full throttle, a 1Gbps connection allows a customer to download a 5GB HD movie in as little as 40 seconds. It would only take two minutes to download a 15GB video game, and a mere four seconds to grab a 600MB TV episode from the cloud.

As fast as that is, 1Gbps service isn't the top speed Comcast offers residential customers. Comcast launched a 2Gbps service called Gigabit Pro in 2015 with symmetrical 2Gbps speeds, which is now available to 18 million homes across the country and 2.4 million homes in Comcast's Greater Chicago Region, which includes Illinois, Northwest Indiana, and Southwest Michigan. Gigabit Pro costs $300 per month and requires a two-year commitment.

Update

A Comcast spokesperson tells HotHardware that, contrary to our initial report, the promo offer it's testing in Chicago is $70 per month when agreeing to a three-year contract, same as Nashville and Atlanta. Also like those other locations, the promotional offer includes unlimited data. We've updated this article to reflect Comcast's clarification.